Nebraska (21-12, 10-3 Big Ten) led the conference heading into Friday’s matchup with Iowa. By the end? Not so much. The Huskers fell 3-2 to Iowa in walk-off fashion on Friday, dropping to second place in the Big Ten behind Indiana.
All three of Nebraska’s losses in the Big Ten this season have come in walk-off fashion. The other two were to Minnesota in late-March.
It’s too bad too. Senior Matt Waldron was dominant for Nebraska on the mound, going for 7.2 innings. He struck out six batters and gave up only eight hits throughout the night.
Iowa got on the board first in the bottom of the third, stringing together three hits with two outs to take a 1-0 lead. The Huskers answered in the top of the fourth with an RBI single from Mojo Hagge. Cam Chick then drove Hagge home to take the lead, 2-1.
Iowa was able to tie it up in the bottom of the sixth, using only three hits to get a run across. However, Waldron was great at limiting Iowa’s opportunities from becoming more significant. An issue earlier in the season for Nebraska was an inability to control bad innings. Opposing teams would blow open the score with the Huskers struggling to limit the damage. Waldron was able to limit the damage against Iowa though, which helped avoid any big innings for the Hawkeyes.
Robbie Palkert entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and was able to avoid additional trouble for the Huskers in that inning. It was in the bottom of the ninth, however, that things became messy. Hawkeye Tanner Wetrich led off with a single. After a failed sacrifice bunt, Justin Jenkins stole second base and Zeb Adreon had the walk-off single on the very next at-bat to win it for Iowa.
It’s a tough loss for Nebraska. Waldron was steller, and the Huskers had plenty of chances. Nebraska left nine runners on base. Ouch.
Nebraska and Iowa are back on the mound Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT.
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
